Aware of Santhanam panel report in Nirmala case: High Court

When the matter came up for hearing before the division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice B Seshasayee on Tuesday, Advocate-General (AG) Vijay Narayan submitted that the report had nothing to do with the criminal side of the probe and that it was an administrative exercise ordered by the Chancellor ‘to arrive at the truth’ and there was no point in the report being kept in a sealed cover.

The AG also noted that the CBCID, which probed the case, had filed a charge sheet in this regard and the trial was in progress at the Mahila court in Srivilliputhur and hence the finding of the report ought to be made public.

However, the counsel appearing for Ganesh of Revolutionary Youth and Students Federation (RYSF), on whose behest the report was kept in a sealed cover, submitted that the probe had not progressed as per the rules governing sexual harassment and that the names of the girls involved in the scandal had been made public.

To this, the bench on seeking to know as to whether the petitioner had taken any action against the media for revealing their names, said a cynical view of the probe will not help the situation, which has disturbed everyone equally.

Also, on wondering as to how one would define and assign a gender-sensitive officer for the probe, the bench said noted every human being was honest, and the court cannot paint all probe officers with the same brush.